CHILDREN’S VERSES.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17964, 8 March 1930, Page 4 (Supplement)

CHILDREN’S VERSES.

EVENIMQ. The sun is set; the swallows are asleep; The bats are flitting fast In the grey air; The slow, soft toads out of damp corners creep; .And evening's breath, wandering here and there Over the quivering surface of the stream, Wakes not one ripple from its summer dreamThere is no dew on the dry- grass to-night, Nor damp within the shadow of the trees; The wind is intermitting, dry and light; .And in the inconstant motion of the breeze The dust and straws are driven up and down, And whirled about the pavement ofs the town. 1 Within the surface of the fleeting river The wrinkled image of the city lay, Immovably unquiet; and for ever It trembles, but it never fades away. The chasm, in which the sun has sunk is shut By darkest barriers of enormous cloud, |

Like mountain over mountain huddled—but Growing and moving upwards is a crowd And over it a space of watery blue Which the keen evening star is shining through. —Shelley, THE CITY. “ I have found my way to the city Where the shining people dwell, Great wind guided by footsteps After my darkness fell. I have found the way to the city Exceedingly beautiful, Where the water of life runs freely, Where the water of life runs cool. “ Men told me the way to the city. Warning the road led far; Some said over the mountains, East of the evening star; Some said ‘ Seek in your own heart Some cried, ‘ 'Follow the sea.’ There are many roads to the city; Only one road for me. . i " The eyes of the shining people Look kindly into my face; I can never escape from the city, \ Prom the high, holy place; / For there are no walls to the city; Worlds at its centre gleam; God and man is the city, Built on the crags of Dream.” —Helen Douglas Adam.